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Queen of Sheba
Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 397
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 Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Van Norden wrote: |
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| Saudi is good if you are desperate for cash and don't want to work too hard for it. |
Exactly. For the unambitious this is one of the last places where you can do ok. |
I guess its good that you at least admit to setting your personal bar so low. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:20 pm Post subject: |
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Where else is a 60-year-old alkie like me going to pick up US$100 a day ?
With long paid holidays and no rent or utilities to pay ? |
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Queen of Sheba
Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 397
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:22 pm Post subject: |
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I am sure your personal standards are higher than most, based on your previous posts Scott, Scot or Scot47. 
Last edited by Queen of Sheba on Thu Sep 07, 2006 1:05 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Queen of Sheba wrote: |
| I am sure your personal standards are higher than most, based on your previous posts Scott. |
As Scott has now double t will he buy a double round? 
Silly me, he's a fellow Scott |
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Queen of Sheba
Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 397
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Scott is a name. Scot, Scots, Scottish are natives of Scotland, not the Scotch -I get that. What I could use is an explanation of the double toothed meaning of your screen name, dmb, so its not confused for anything less than deserving.....hmmmm...there are so many relevant options. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, I too have pondered the dmb... could be his initials... or perhaps like Arabic he is writing without vowels...
VS |
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Sheikh Inal Ovar
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Posts: 1208
Location: Melo Drama School
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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| That's a lot more polite .. QOS ... than your original post ... |
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Queen of Sheba
Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 397
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Indeed...I was equally fond of the other. |
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Sheikh Inal Ovar
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Posts: 1208
Location: Melo Drama School
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 3:01 pm Post subject: |
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Having recently met dmb I can say there is no undeserving meaning to the handle dmb ...
... and no he doesn't resemble his avatar ... he's far less animated ... |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Many think that I have dropped the u from dmb but they are my actual initials. |
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SueH
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 1022
Location: Northern Italy
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| Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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We'll have to guess now:
David Mckenzie Burns |
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Mark100
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 441
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| Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 10:45 am Post subject: |
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Q of S
You abrogate all pretensions to ambition or any sort of integrity when you sign a contract to work in Saudi. The sooner you realise it the easier life becomes in Saudi.
And there is nothing wrong with not being ambitious and wanting to not work too hard yet earn a decent amount of cash. |
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Bebsi
Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 958
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| Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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| What I could use is an explanation of the double toothed meaning of your screen name, dmb... |
What Bebsi could use after reading this thread is a double Scottch!!!!!!!
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| You abrogate all pretensions to ambition or any sort of integrity when you sign a contract to work in Saudi. The sooner you realise it the easier life becomes in Saudi. |
This is patently untrue. It may be the case that with some employers, signing a contract implies a tacit acceptance of a systm of academic management that involves than meritocratic caharecteristics, but not by any means. And is anyone seriously suggesting that this only happens in Saudi Arabia? This would indeed be naive.
I worked for a couple of years at Hafr Al Batin Community College, an offshoot of KFUPM. While there, I taught courses prescribed by the mother institution, and was given full autonomy in areas such as methodology etc, provided the courses WERE taught. At the end of each semester, formal examinations were held, in the administration and writing of which I was involved in certain subjects. I can happily say that the conduct and the means of marking and presentation of these examinations was fair and above-board, as was the general application of disciplinary measures and rules to all students throughout the term.
In one instance, I caught a student blatantly cheating, and on the matter being referred to and investigated by the then Dean, that student was instantly dismissed from the college and banned from further examinations or participation within the KFUPM system. In my experience, students who failed to perform at the requisite standard, failed their examinations. It was as simple as that. I was never once called upon or asked in any way to do anything other than the job I went there to do, and was invariably allowed to do this job without hindrance or threat and with full integrity brought to bear.
Having said the above, I would add that there was a very small minority of faculty who conducted themselves, in my opinion, with considerably less integrity, and who I strongly suspected of "facilitating" students unfairly. I am aware that one individual, who was aware of the contents of an exam paper that I had written some days before, had in all likelihood informed his students of the contents of that paper. Certainly, when my students commented on likely areas to be examined, and the coincidence seemed indeed uncanny, they shouted "Mr. *****, he tell his students what's on paper, teacher". This same teacher was caught on another occasion marking students considerably below standard, his own students, I should add, for which action he was severely reprimanded.
The point I am making here is that some people sign a Saudi contract thinking they have to act in a manner which suggests that integrity is not a priority or even an issue. That is their own expectation. I would venture so far as to say that some even come to KSA for this reason, perhaps even coaxed by rumours and myth to this effect, as exemplified by Mark100's posting.
In relation to the posts in other threads, on that institution, I would say that if anything, a significant problem there is the failure of the administration to address the difficulties presented by that very small minority (who, incidentally, are neither British nor the OP, but from a certain north American country that is not the US). They simply drag everyone else's reputation down, and indeed that of the venerable institution of which they are a part.
KFUPM, and many other institutions in Saudi Arabia, do not expect anyone to abandon their principles or integrity when hiring them. Indeed, they hire precisely in the expectation that these qualities will be brought to bear. That they are not always so, is a sad reflection on those they hire, and not on the hirers themselves. |
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Queen of Sheba
Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 397
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| Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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Well said Bebsi..have your well deserved double scotch now.
As for Mark100, maybe Mark-100 would be more appropriate. There IS something wrong with not being ambitious and uncaring as you suggest, and consequently cheating the people who pay your wages. In addition, you give others a bad wrap, a bad attitude, and a bad education with that as your mantra. |
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sw
Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 23
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| Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:45 am Post subject: |
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Bebsi.
Let's not pick on the Canadians, eh? They are at the forefront in esl/efl training and certification. They offer an intensive immersion program for certification that takes two whole days and is recognized by every country in the world. The cert is fully accredited by the Canadian Registry of Academic Professionals (CRAP). |
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